"ROY ROGERS"
by: Car54... Reggie
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The passing of Roy Rogers stirred memories of my childhood in Wharton County, Texas. My Dad bought a business in town after we had live 2 miles out in the country most of our lives, my brother and me.

Dale and me were two of those kids who came to town on Saturday every week and saw the cowboy heroes of the day in the matinee at one of the three picture shows in town while Mom and Dad shopped for the week.

I never found it an easy decision as to whether see Gene Autey, Rocky Lane or Roy Rogers at the movies, but my decision was always made easier because Dale (Texas4440) had no problem at all choosing.....it was always Roy Rogers...cut and dried no questions asked......and most of the time that was all there was to it . He was the baby of the family and you know what that means.

There are no telling how many bad guys we saw Roy wipe out or how many songs we heard him sing. What I remember most about his movies was his supporting cast. There was Pat Brady with his jeep “nellie bell” and Bing Divine with his raspy slow drawl. and of course the “Sons of the Pioneers” always singing a song or three while Roy romanced a gal, usually played by his wife Dale Evans, and of course there was Trigger the wonder horse and Bullett the original crime fighting dog.

There was back in those days a TV show on Wednesday nights called THIS IS YOUR LIFE, and I remember when they did Roy Rogers life on the show. I was shocked to learn that Roy Rogers was not really Roy Rogers. He was Leonard Sly. That was a little hard to get used to, and being the typical big brother I found that I could irritate Dale with that knowledge that his “hero” was an imposter. After all Gene Autrey was Gene Autrey, the real authentic person.

Last year when Marjan and me got married and spent some time in California I saw the Roy Rogers Museum from a distance and said I would see it next time. Now I wish I would have taken the time to see it that time because now Roy Rogers has sang Happy Trails for the final time and he is gone from us, but he will never be forgotten

Reggie...

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